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Units.mp2
Note: Multiplayer II uses movement rates 2x higher than Classic rules. All Multiplayer Longturn games at freecivweb.org use 2x movement. Movement rates given in this document reflect the 2x rates. Quick Jump: Unit Catalogue Unit Overview Available units may be classified as military units, whose talents are those of defense and aggression, and a few noncombatants which support expansion (Explorers, Settlers, Workers, and Engineers), diplomacy (the Diplomat and Spy), construction of Wonders (Caravans and Freight), and scouting (AWACS). Support of your units is one of your major expenses. Depending on your form of government, each unit may require one production point per turn; and Settlers also require one to three food points per turn. Note that autocratic governments force cities to support several units for free, which can save production points for other uses. Under representative governments, aggressive units standing outside your borders each cause one or two workers to become unhappy. This makes war quite expensive under representative government, since production points are required to support each unit and luxury points must be produced to calm the populace. Movement Units begin every turn with one or more movement points, depending upon their natural mobility — shown for each unit in the catalogue below — reduced, for damaged land and sea units, in proportion to the extent of their damage. Movement points not consumed by the end of the turn are lost and cannot be stored or transferred. Sea units gain extra movement points if their civilization possesses the Lighthouse or Nuclear power. Every action undertaken by a unit consumes movement points. This manual describes each action in the section where it is most relevant; see the index for the full list of actions. Actions require one movement point unless otherwise noted. The most basic action is movement. Units can move into any of the eight surrounding squares under fairly obvious constraints: land units are confined to land and transport vessels; ships are confined to ocean squares and port cities (which are thus the only cities that can build them); and aircraft ignore terrain, though they must often end their turn where they can refuel — see the description of each unit for specific restrictions. Moving one square usually consumes one movement point, and units can always move one square regardless of their wounds. Rough terrain, however, can be more costly for land units as detailed in the terrain catalogue, and land units disembarking from ships lose all remaining movement points. Enemy units impose zones of control ''(ZoC), such that military units, settlers, workers, and engineers cannot move between squares adjacent to enemy units without retreating into unthreatened territory first, unless the square they enter already holds a friendly city, base, or unit, or the unit is one that ignores zones of control. Note also that land units can embark and disembark from transports whenever the transport is adjacent to land or another transport — this does not require ports or other facilities. Land units can move instantly between airports in friendly cities with the '''airlift' action. Air units can also "airlift" themselves, considered to simply be a solo flight. An airport can participate in only one airlift per turn. Unit Catalogue This manual will list units somewhat chronologically. Several attributes define each unit in the following list. The Cost specifies how many production points a city must invest to build one unit. M''' is the number of '''movement points the unit gets each turn. C '''is the number of other units that it can '''carry (transport capacity). The combat statistics A''' '''attack strength, D''' '''defense strength, HP hit points, and FP firepower are all explained in the section describing Combat. Bronze Age Geographic expansion and primitive warfare require no technology. * Settlers can found new cities, improve land, and build roads. * Warriors are the most basic military unit. * The Well-Digger is unique—you can only make one. If you are unlucky and start with no water source, it can create it. Then it should be disbanded immediately to avoid high upkeep. A Well-Digger can irrigate Low-Land tiles (not Hills or Mountains), or dig a well on any tile. To dig a well, simply instruct the Well-Digger to "Build Road." A Despotic city requires +2 Food and +2 Prod for upkeep. THE WELL-DIGGER WILL NOT WORK IF: 1) He is outside your borders.' 2)' He dies from lack of upkeep, 3) You discovered Alphabet or Pottery. Well-Diggers are not units to fool around with. They are specially designed to only be useful for an unlucky nation with no water, in its first turns of existence. ''If that's not the case, then making this unit will handicap you. These four units require only one technology each. * Workers can improve land. * Horsemen provide mobile offense. * Archers are multi-purpose offense/defense. * The Phalanx provides heavy defense. Iron Age This simple transport can only move in ocean and river tiles, and it cannot enter deep ocean tiles. In the Iron Age, attack strength outpaces defense strength, making defense difficult outside of walled cities or fortifying on terrain with a defensive bonus. * For the cost, Chariots provide excellent movement and attack value. * For a higher cost, Elephants combine very high attack with mobility. * The Catapult is the strongest attack unit before gunpowder is discovered, but is slow and lacks defense * The Legion is perhaps the most feared unit of ancient times. Though slow, they combine high attack with high defense and are famous for their discipline and engineering skills — they can build roads in non-domestic territory and construct fortresses. Besides building an embassy, your Diplomat can attempt to bribe or incite rebellion, and can perform espionage and sabotage; see Diplomacy. Diplomats have no upkeep and are not subject to Zones of Control. Age of Exploration Explorers treat all terrain as roads: each move expends only ⅓ move. Explorers are not subject to Zones of Control and have no upkeep. Each Caravan can carry 30 production points to contribute toward a Wonder. Caravans have no upkeep. Feudal Age Feudalism and Chivalry advance military power. * Pikemen are like a Phalanx that's doubly effective against mounted units. * Knights defend well against other mounted units and their noble status allows them to attack cities without population reduction. * Crusaders use weaponry that gives an attack advantage that can make a life-or-death difference in attacking against Knights and Pikemen, but this weaponry is not as good for defending. The Caravel offers greater capacity than the Trireme, can travel rivers, and can venture across Deep Ocean tiles. Age of Gunpowder Magnetism replaces the Caravel with two ships: the high capacity Galleon and the heavily armed Frigate. Both can travel rivers. Steam Engine technology offers the even more specialized Ironclad warship, but from this ship onward, no travel on rivers is possible. Ships from Ironclad onward can pillage buoys. The advent of Gunpowder and the advances which follow make all earlier combat units obsolete. Since this advance does not require Feudalism, the medieval units may be skipped by those eager to reach powder. The new units follow roughly the Bronze Age pattern of heavy defense, multi-purpose offense/defense, and heavy offense. Chemistry and Explosives give new options. * Engineers move and work twice as fast as Workers or Settlers and offer more ways to transform land. * Balloons can cross enemy borders with impunity, using their excellent vision to gather critical intelligence, then return to a city or base on the next turn. They cannot cross Mountains. ''The Balloon is unreachable by primitive land and sea units, but can be attacked by land units from Riflemen onward, and by sea units from Ironclad onward. The Balloon cannot block any unit from making attacks on other units on the same tile. ''Once rifles are invented, using Balloons for military scouting becomes perilous. The Industrial Age The Galleon, Frigate, and Ironclad are replaced by more powerful versions. These and all later ships get improved vision. They can't travel on rivers. * The Destroyer's range and vision make it a preferred Submarine hunting ship. The Submarine and the Destroyer will kill each other when attacking but lose when defending, creating a deadly game of hide and seek. * Rifles give foot soldiers greater attack than defense strength for the first time since the ancient legions. * Cavalry are an improvement over Dragoons. * Fanatics could almost be thought of as half priced Riflemen with no upkeep, but can only be produced by Fundamentalist governments. Like Explorers, Alpine Troops expend only one-third of a movement point to move one square regardless of terrain; this makes Alpine Troops a powerful unit in mountainous regions. Both trade and diplomacy gain mobility. * Spies are capable of more actions than Diplomats; they can be given more precise orders, and often survive and can be reused. Spies have no upkeep. Modern Technology Two new warships offer less mobility but vastly enhanced firepower. They can't travel on rivers. * The Cruiser is the first of all warships with firepower 2, giving a dominant warship that remains strong for long time to come. * The Battleship is the largest most durable and dominant warship ever made, and for this reason can still keep some relevance even in the late game when more advanced techs appear, if used for special purposes. * The Submarine compensates its weak defense by stealth — it is invisible to units or cities not immediately adjacent. Unlike other ships, it cannot attack Land units, but it can carry missiles. It has an artificially high 12 attack value that gives it enough move points after an attack to perform "hit-and-run." This gets equalized by an anti-Submarine bonus for many advanced warships. If grouped in numbers, Submarines are deadly effective against '''all' surface ships in the game. The Submarine's ability to submerge makes it unreachable by aircraft or missile attack; however, it will not protect other units on the same tile from such attacks. * Marines fight their country's battles on air and land and sea. Not only are Marines the most powerful foot units in the game, but they are the only land units who can attack directly from ships (instead of having to move onto land first). Armed with a variety of diverse and powerful weaponry, they can even attack Air and Sea units (at a penalty though.) They can disembark without losing all their moves, and can board and attack from Helicopters, Carriers, and Transports. Elite veteran-3 Marines are promoted to Ranger with a 250% veteran bonus, and battle training allows even higher bonuses. A chance to possibly achieve these levels and gain "special ops" forces is facilitated by a city with Barracks III, Airport, and Port Facility combined: Marines made in such cities come out as vet-2 hardened. The ability to attack almost anything from anywhere makes them suited for high risk special ops. Marines can't attack Submarines, Missiles, Jet Bombers (high altitude), or Stealth aircraft. * The Partisan behaves like an armed Explorer, treating all terrain as roads and thus requiring only ⅓ 'movement point to move 1 square. Some cities will generate them when conquered (see details page). Partisans live off the native land and have no upkeep. Partisans are not subject to Zones of Control. * Artillery gets increased accuracy and a large boost to firepower, and is much stronger than a cannon. With Flight, combat takes to the air. * Fighters need fuel to avoid crashing and thus must end every turn in a city, on a carrier or an airbase. While aircraft can attack ground units, they can themselves be engaged only by other aircraft, and cannot enter and take undefended enemy cities. ''Like all Fighter-types in all MP rulesets, the Fighter prevents land and sea units from attacking the tile it is on. * Anti-Aircraft Artillery are an exception: they are light-weight guns that can attack anything from anywhere, but their primary use is to support ground units against Air units. High Technology * The Escort Fighter has larger size for more range, more speed, and more damage absorption; but is less maneuverable for engaging in attacks. Its longer range and ability to stay in the air 2 turns make it well-suited for escorting bombers, longer range scouting with attacks on poorly defended targets, and defensive ground support requiring longer periods in the air. Like all Fighter-types in all MP rulesets, the Escort Fighter prevents land and sea units from attacking the tile it is on. * The Medium Bomber is the first bomber. It can stay in the air longer than Fighters and take out stronger ground targets. The higher cost of the Heavy Bomber makes the Medium Bomber an option even after Heavy Bombers become available. ''NOTE:' In MP2, Bombers are no longer forced to lose their turn and remain stuck in the air after a single attack. The Medium Bomber is unreachable by most land and sea units but doesn't block attacks on other units on the same tile. * The Missile Destroyer upgrades the Destroyer for late game action. Firepower is boosted to 2'. To a lesser degree than its big brother the AEGIS, it has Missile interceptor systems which double defensive effectiveness against Air & Missile units. The ability to carry one Cruise Missile completes the enhancements. * The defense strength of the AEGIS Cruiser is multiplied by 3 when attacked by aircraft, helicopters, and missiles. AEGIS Cruisers are the only ship which can directly attack an adjacent air unit. This unit also has the best vision of any combat unit in the game. * The Carrier arguably claims the throne from the Battleship as the new King of the Seas. It can't really attack, but the ability to carry up to 8 Air units is quite formidable. Carried units may be any mixture of any type of Fighters, Bombers, Helicopters, Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Marines, AWACS, or Missiles. The final generation of ground forces offers the familiar choice between heavy attack strength and defense capability. * When attacking cities, the Howitzer negates any defense advantage that would be offered by city walls. * Paratroopers can be paradropped from friendly cities or airbases, allowing long range actions; they have a range of 14 tiles, and may move immediately after being paradropped. * Unlike other airborne units, the Helicopter can conquer an undefended enemy city. Though they do not have to end their turn inside a friendly city, fortress, or airbase, it will cost two hit points if they do not. They can be attacked by ground units from riflemen onward, and be sea units from Ironclad onward. Helicopters are able to carry one Marines or one Anti-Aircraft Artillery unit. ''In MP2, Helicopters are no longer forced to remain stuck in the air after making a single attack. * Heavy Bombers can end one turn aloft before returning to a city, carrier, or airbase to refuel. They are Field Units which cause Unhappiness in their Home City. * AWACS offers greatly enlarged vision. Both units are unreachable by most land and sea units but do not block attacks on other units on the same tile. In MP2, Bombers are no longer forced to remain stuck in the air after a single attack. * Atom Bombs destroy everything within a 3x3 grid of their impact area, but cause nuclear fallout which can increase chances of causing nuclear winter. They must be loaded on a Heavy Bomber or better, unloaded ('dropped'), then detonated. *Strategic Bombers offer slight upgrade to attack, high altitude to even the odds against Fighters, and much longer range for strategic missions. *To survive, missiles must end each turn in a city, Carrier, Submarine or airbase. They are always destroyed when they finally attack. '''The Space Age Jet aircraft bring improvement to range and strength. * The Jet Fighter's balanced strength makes it an excellent multipurpose unit. Like all Fighter-types in all MP rulesets, the Jet Fighter prevents land and sea units from attacking the tile it is on. * The Jet Bomber has 3 turns of fuel and can spend 2 turn changes in the air. Saturation bombing enables it to pillage enemy tiles. This prolongs its tactical uses even after Stealth is discovered. The Jet Bomber is unreachable by most land and sea units but doesn't block attacks on other units on the same tile. In MP2, Bombers are no longer forced to remain stuck in the air after a single attack. * The Nuclear missile offers the capacities of the Atom Bomb with self-propulsion, unreachability by other units, and greater range--making a deadly upgrade to an already deadly unit. The final military advances produce stealth aircraft. They offer greater strength and long range, and are invisible to enemy units and cities except when in an adjacent square. Unlike other Air units, their stealthy "radar invisibility" makes them suffer only a 1.25x defence penalty against SAM batteries. Like all Fighter-types in all MP rulesets, the Stealth Fighter prevents Land and most Sea units from attacking the tile it is on. ''The Stealth Bomber is unreachable by Land and most Sea units, but doesn't block attacks on other units on the same tile. ''In MP2, Bombers are no longer forced to remain stuck in the air after a single attack.